The first known epidemic of extensively drug-resistant typhoid is spreading through Pakistan, infecting at least 850 people in 14 districts since 2016, according to the National Institute of Health Islamabad. The typhoid strain, resistant to five types of antibiotics, is expected to disseminate globally, replacing weaker strains where they are endemic. Experts have identified only one remaining oral antibiotic — azithromycin — to combat it; one more genetic mutation could make typhoid untreatable in some areas.

Destiny Pharma’s antibiotic for post-surgical infections will begin its clinical development after the FDA accepted its Investigational New Drug application. Destiny Pharma wants to combat the growing antibiotic resistance crisis by targeting post-surgical Staphylococcus aureus infections like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The FDA has accepted an investigational new drug application (IND) for Destiny’s MRSA candidate, XF-73, which will allow the company to complete Phase I and finalize the design of a Phase II trial. XF-73 is a dicationic porphyrin molecule, which is a member of a new class of antibiotics called XF drugs. Interestingly, XF-73 is a nasal gel, which...

US scientists have discovered a new family of antibiotics in soil samples. The natural compounds could be used to combat hard-to-treat infections, the team at Rockefeller University hopes. Tests show the compounds, called malacidins, annihilate several bacterial diseases that have become resistant to most existing antibiotics, including the superbug MRSA. Experts say the work, published in Nature Microbiology, offers fresh hope in the antibiotics arms race. Dr Sean Brady's team at New York's Rockefeller University has been busy unearthing them. They used a gene sequencing technique to analyse more than 1,000 soil samples taken from across the US. When they...

With the rise of superbugs, the impact of drug resistance is becoming more serious. One woman tells Talking Point how it left her blind and "like a child". Read more atIt started with a fever. To fight off the infection, Madam Siti Hajar had to rely on antibiotics, as her immune system was weak owing to her diabetes. But even when she returned to work, she did not feel any better. In fact, her vision began to be affected. So the next day, she went to Changi General Hospital’s accident and emergency department. “I only remember going to hospital and...

Antibiotic resistance has caused a fall in life expectancy for the first time, the Office for National Statistics has said. Life expectancy in future years has been revised down after the statistics authority said that "less optimistic views" about the future had to be taken into account.

Yes, say some international experts citing the rise of the super bug. But experts in UAE disagree and argue for better prescription protocols and patient responsibilityThe case of the six-year-old girl who developed antibiotic resistance is not an isolated one in the world of antibiotics. As these super drugs are routinely prescribed, controversies on their abuse and overuse are beginning to throw a big question-mark on whether antibiotics have outgrown their effectiveness. The question doing the rounds in many medical corridors is: Is the golden age of antibiotics over? Â“No, this is not true,Â” said Dr Sandeep Pargi, consultant pulmonologist...

Antibiotic resistance will end modern medicine and push us into a "post-antibiotic apocalypse", England's chief medical officer has warned. Dame Sally Davies has issued a call to action urging global leaders to address the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics. Professor Davies warns antibiotic resistance can jeopardise everyday medical procedures and make them "risky" - including caesarean sections, cancer treatments and hip replacements. She also says without drugs to treat infections, transplant medicine would be a "thing of the past". Professor Davies told Sky News: "The post-antibiotic apocalypse is that when you get an infection, we cannot guarantee it will...

Bacterial cells treated with a common antibiotic have been spotted changing shape to survive while aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The way bacteria act in near-zero gravity environments could pose a serious problem for treating astronauts with infections. ... An experiment on the common E coli bacteria subjected it to different concentrations of the antibiotic gentamicin sulfate, a drug which kills the bug on Earth. However, in comparison to a control group on Earth, the space bacteria showed a 13-fold increase in cell numbers and a 73% reduction in cell column size. "We knew bacteria behave differently in space...

THE Saudi Antibiotics Integrated Regulatory Program (SAIR) is an initiative launched by Mohammed Alaqil concerning the misuse and abuse of antibiotics and the issue of superbugs in Saudi Arabia. It is the first initiative and program where the idea is educational and supported by several international and national organizations. SAIR program has been working with several universities in the United States including Portland State University & Georgetown University. As a first plan, symposiums, seminars, and campaigns will be held and then it would be transmitted to the MENA region within the extended plan of SAIR for Middle East & North...

Antibiotics can still kill drug-resistant bacteria if they 'push' hard enough into bacterial cells, finds new UCL-led research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The study, published in Nature Scientific Reports, opens up a promising new way of overcoming antibiotic resistance and could help scientists to design even more effective drugs. "Antibiotics work in different ways, but they all need to bind to bacterial cells in order to kill them," explains lead author Dr Joseph Ndieyira (UCL Medicine). "Antibiotics have 'keys' that fit 'locks' on bacterial cell surfaces, allowing them to latch on. When a bacterium becomes...

<p>The specific strain of CRE, known as Klebsiella pneumoniae, was isolated from one of her wounds in August.</p>
<p>Tests were negative for the mcr-1 gene—a great concern to health experts because it makes bacteria resistant to the antibiotic of last resort, colistin.</p>

Evolutionists Couldn’t Have Been More Wrong About Antibiotic Resistance Dec. 15, 2016 A colony of bacteria similar to the one analyzed in the study being discussed. (click for credit) A colony of bacteria similar to the one analyzed in the study being discussed. (click for credit) Back when I went to university, I was taught (as definitive fact) that bacteria evolved resistance to antibiotics as a result of the production of antibiotics. This was, of course, undeniable evidence for the fact that new genes can arise through a process of mutation and natural selection. Like most evolution-inspired ideas, however, the...

A whole new way to fight antibiotic resistance.Scientists have discovered that Tasmanian devil milk contains an arsenal of antimicrobial compounds that can kill some of the most deadly bacterial and fungal infections known to science - including golden staph. Tasmanian devils were found to produce six different types of these antimicrobial compounds - humans produce just one - and scientists were able to successfully synthesise them in the lab to test their effectiveness against a number of drug-resistant bacterial and fungal pathogens. When tested against 25 different bacterial and six fungal strains, the six varieties of antimicrobial compounds were found...

China’s future is looking fatter, with the country on track to have the greatest number of overweight children aged five to 17.9 years by 2025, according to a report released by the World Obesity Federation. If trends continued, the mainland was expected to have 48.5 million overweight children in 2025, more than the population of Spain, the study said. That compared with a projected 17.3 million overweight children in India and 16.7 million in the United States. The study said an estimated 1.5 million Chinese children would have impaired glucose tolerance while 4.6 million would have fatty liver disease,...

Never before in human history have babies and children grown up so cleanly, and our diets have lost many of the elements most crucial to the health of our guts. We have become very bad hosts to our microbes. [snip] Babies and toddlers often aren’t allowed to play in the dirt or sand, and when they are, they are wiped clean immediately. Phrases like, “Yuck! Don’t play in the mud!” or “Don’t touch that bug, it’s dirty!” have become second nature. We need to unlearn these habits. By preventing babies and children from following their innate impulse to get dirty,...

Growing resistance to antibiotics has complicated efforts to rein in common sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhoea, chlamydia and syphilis, the World Health Organization warned Tuesday as it issued new treatment guidelines. Globally, more than one million people contract a sexually transmitted disease (STD) or infection (STI) every day, WHO said. "Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis are major public health problems worldwide, affecting millions of peoples' quality of life, causing serious illness and sometimes death," Ian Askew, head of WHO's reproductive health and research division, said in a statement.

Antibiotic made by nose microbes kills MRSA, say researchers, amid hopes that more weapons in the fight against drug resistance might be found in the body Nose-dwelling microbes produce an antibiotic which kills the hospital superbug MRSA, scientists have discovered. The finding suggests that the human body might harbour a rich variety of bacteria that could be harnessed in the fight against antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance is a growing cause for concern, with experts warning of an impending “apocalyptic” situation in which patients die following routine surgery because of infections that can no longer be treated. Among the superbugs of...

Gonorrhea was relatively benign in years gone by, going by the name “the clap” and was easily treated with penicillin. Now it’s a monster. A super-resistant form is cutting a swath through straight and gay communities. When it emerged in Leeds last year, the new superbug prompted a national alert when one of the main treatments became useless against it. The Neisseria ­gonorrhoeae infection is spread through unprotected vaginal, oral and anal sex. Left untreated, gonorrhoea can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease. Inflammation of the ­fallopian tubes can cause a blockage which can result in infertility. Gonorrhoea can also be...

For the first time, researchers have found a person in the United States carrying bacteria resistant to antibiotics of last resort, an alarming development that the top U.S. public health official says could mean "the end of the road" for antibiotics. The antibiotic-resistant strain was found last month in the urine of a 49-year-old Pennsylvania woman. Defense Department researchers determined that she carried a strain of E. coli resistant to the antibiotic colistin, according to a study published Thursday in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a publication of the American Society for Microbiology. The authors wrote that the discovery "heralds the...